“At one time I might have believed you, but now?” Eddie pointed to a clock standing outside the urn. “If that’s what you’re going for, you’ve failed. You’ve got an escapee. How can you expect to control time if you can’t even contain it? ”

Frank adjusted the wayward clock’s position. “You’re assuming I wanted this clock in the urn.”

“Didn’t you?”

“Come on, Eddie, think it through. What did we always feel we were missing in our experiments with time?”

Eddie grimaced. “Intelligence.”

Frank raised an eyebrow.

“Oh, for cryin’ out loud, Frank. What do you want from me?”

“A little cooperation for starters. We worked long and hard on this project, too hard to just give up.”

Eddie ran his fingers through his thinning hair. “I gave up on this long ago. You know that. It’s hopeless. No one will ever learn the secret to controlling time.”

“I never believed you gave up. Our dream is still there, buried deep inside.” Frank leaned forward, palms on the table. The clocks rocked but did not move. “All you have to do is reach down inside and pull it out.”

“Why?” Eddie glanced at the ticking clocks. “Why would I want to go back to the long days and longer nights? To the ridicule? The loneliness? I’ve got a good life now. A good woman and prospects.” He sighed. “You were always different. Those things never mattered to you, so losing them doesn’t phase you. You can’t lose what you never had. But I can, and those things matter to me.”

Frank’s eyes flashed. “Look who thinks he knows it all. Why do you think it’s so important that we do this?”

Eddie gaped. “You want to bring them back.”

“To stop it from ever happening,” Frank nodded toward the clocks. “And I think that time outside of time holds the answer. It’s the trigger we need.”

“So this isn’t the actual machine.”

Frank looked at him as if he were stupid. “No, it’s a visual aid. The real machine is hidden. You know where. Are you with me? It’s almost finished, but I can really use your help.”

Hope filled Eddie. He nodded slowly. “I’m in.”

_________________Be patient with me. Like any good story, I'm a work in progress.